Stories, Old Ragged Verse, Letters to and from mountain cousins by Storyteller and Appalachian Humorist Stephen Hollen. Enjoy the humor and bittersweet memories of Eastern Kentucky and a place where the mist crawls down the mountainside ''like molasses on a cold plate''

Saturday, February 26, 2011

It is a wonderful fall morning here. It makes me want to be in the hills so bad. If I were, I would wake you and tell you to dress quickly. I would get a flashlight and quickly, quietly lead you deep into the woods, quickly to a hillside where we could sit and just wait.

Perhaps we would talk quietly, but mostly we would sit silently as the woods woke up. It is a glorious thing. The little birds wake first, noisy and hungry they flit from tree to bush, singing quietly and talking to each other in a ritual that happens every day of the year.

Squirrels seem to be the next to arise. They come quickly down the trees and bounce from place to place through the fallen leaves. Sometime they make me think it is a deer as they run and then hesitate. Often they scold and fuss as they search for that hidden acorn they put away days before.

As we sat it would warm up, but you would shiver as the cold seeped in. The joy of seeing a doe walk silently through the woods would make you forget you were cold. The awe of seeing a 10 point buck slink by, nose to the ground, following the scent of the doe, mind on nothing but the doe will enthrall you. We will giggle like children as we realize he walked so close we could have reached out and touched him, yet he was so enamored he never knew.

We would sit for ever so long as the sun rose over the shoulders of the eastern hills, unwilling to give up our seats for the concert of the holler below, the theater of life that was playin' out below us.

Finally we would walk quietly back, talking now and again, unwilling to break the somber, thankful mood we were in. Back at the cabin, breakfast would be ready, Aunt Mag and Bess would be fussin' over eggs and table arrangements. Platters would be piled high with cat head biscuits, fried ham, sausage meat and bacon. Gravy would smell lovely and call for us to pour it over a huge bakin' powder biscuit. Homemade jellies an' sourwood honey would sparkle in mason jars, just waitin' to be swiped on one of them biscuits. Then Uncle Bill would pour boilin' water from a kettle into a washbasin...temper it off with cold water, just drawn from the deep well in the front yard. We would laugh and chatter as we scrubbed our hands and dried them on a towel worn thin with scotch thriftiness.

As we sat we would bow our heads, give thanks for the beauty of the dawn we shared and eat. Yes, buddy, we would eat!

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Stephen Hollen

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SCHEDULING

Why not try something different for your Sales Meeting, Conference or Annual Meeting? Invite Stephen to as your Featured or Keynote Speaker! His many years of experiences as a successful and award winning Salesman and Sales Manager have given him insights and inspiration for your business or organization.

Event Planners and Organizers, here is a winning idea! Invite Stephen to share his Tall Tales, Scary Stories, Old Ragged Verse or maybe even Doc Hollen's Traveling Medicine Show at your event, festival, school or organization.

Contact him at: mountainstories@yahoo.comOr give him a call: 937-371-4071

About Me

Stephen Hollen is an award winning storyteller, writer, poet and Appalachian
Humorist. He grew up in the hills of Appalachia where his family has
lived since the 1760s. He is considered by many to be one of the foremost
poetic and storytelling voices of Appalachia.

One of the achievements Stephen is proudest of is the Heritage Award
presented to him in 2005 at the Appalachian Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He was chosen "Man of the Year" in 2007 and was elected to "Who's Who
in America" in 2000, 2001 and 2003. His poetry - known by him as
"ragged verse" has been selected to appear on a number of websites
and his poem remembering 9/11 traveled around the world and appeared in German
and Russian websites!

Stephen's storytelling blog - www.mountainstories.net
enjoys huge popularity and has a large following of readers. Thousands of
readers stop monthly to read the humorous stories, bittersweet memories and
wonderful word pictures written by this talented author and poet.

Perhaps you were introduced to Stephen Hollen at a festival, school or
community event as he told stories, performed his tongue in cheek Old Time
Medicine Show as Doc Hollen, made Appalachian brooms and walking sticks, played the harmonica
or dulcimer or just told a tale so tall it HAD to be true.

Wherever you crossed his path, there is no doubt that he loves Appalachia -
and Eastern Kentucky in particular. When he talks about his "hometown
of Beloved, Kentucky", characters like his Cousin Peanut, Uncle Billy
Gilbert or Birdie Sue Poovey, you will grin with recognition because you have
kin just like them. As he reads his ragged verse, his warm bass voice
slowly weaves a picture of lightening bugs dancin' at dusk, of mist creepin'
down a mountain like molasses on a cold plate... and you find yourself
entranced, smiling at the memories he weaves around his audience.

Stephen Hollen is an unsung ambassador for Eastern Kentucky. You can see
it in the twinkle of his eye, hear it in the richness of his voice as he asks
you to come along and go with him back home... to the hills.